7 Benefits of Outsourcing Management Roles in Small Business (Pssst...saving money is only one of them!)

I was intrigued yesterday at Entrepreneur Media's Accelerate Your Business event to hear Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief, say that her team is 100% virtual.  I guess I assumed an organization like hers would have plush corporate offices and Friday donuts in the break room.  But, she's not alone, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, as many as 46% of companies use virtual employees/consultants/long-term freelancers.  According to Bloomberg, a big chunk of those virtual employees are in the business services sector, including management consulting and business-support services like marketing.

Although outsourcing and virtual employment have become mainstream in corporate America, not many small businesses truly understand the benefits of outsourcing.  Yes, it saves money, but that’s not the only (or even the most important) reason to do it.  While many small business owners consider outsourcing a solution for admin or untrained positions, outsourcing management roles is a real option and can provide a number of long-term benefits, some of which include:

• Time. Outsourcing allows you to focus on running your business while an expert handles areas of the business that need attention.
• Best practices. Consultants are experts in their industry and are dialed into current trends.  Their impartial, independent view of your business can lead to real improvements and growth.
• Access to technology. Consultants invest in current technology, software, and equipment that they need to offer their services, allowing you to enjoy those benefits without the investment.
• Expertise. You started your business because you’re an expert at what you do, outsourcing allows you to employ other experts in areas where you lack skill or interest.
• Stress relief. Consultants have the skills, knowledge, time, resources, and competence to manage their area of specialty, giving you the confidence to focus on other things that are important to you.
• Growth. Outsourcing is an affordable, proven strategy for growing your business without letting it take over your life.

…and of course

• Cost savings. Consultants don’t require training, benefits, or physical space.  In fact, an expert consultant can be retained for less than the cost of administrative staff – offering you professional management expertise at a significant savings.

Smart Fish Marketing’s Virtual Marketing Director service was designed to offer these and many more benefits to the small business owner.  Call or email us today to find out more about how you can enjoy expert, professional management of your marketing for less than the cost of a receptionist. 

If You Don’t Want to Save Time and Money, Don’t Bother Defining Your Brand

When I begin working with a new client, the first thing I do is ask them if they can define their brand for me.  Why?  Frankly, because it tells me how much work we have to do.  If a business owner can tell me in clear language exactly what they offer, and to whom they offer it, they are miles ahead and we can hit the ground running. If they can’t give me that information, I know we have miles to go.  And those miles not only take time, but they can come at a price.

Just to recap, the process of branding is, in a nutshell, aligning what your target audience wants with what you offer.  It involves building out an ideal client profile, defining what unique factors set you apart from your competition, creating an identity (logo, colors, fonts), and then crafting a basic message that draws your customer to you as the exclusive answer to their needs.  Your brand becomes a guiding principle and a foundation for everything you do in your business.  In fact, a clearly defined brand can add efficiencies to your business in ways beyond marketing, and can save you real time and money by streamlining processes across your organization. 

When you have a clearly-defined brand, you can save time and money by:

•  Reducing employee turnover.  Knowing your brand’s values and personality allows you to hire the right people and build training programs that clearly convey your values, cultures, and expectations.
• Implementing systems and procedures that reinforce your customer’s experience at every point of contact they have with your business, building their sense of confidence that you are, in fact, their ideal provider of your product/service, and building customer loyalty. 
• Evaluating new products and services against your core purpose.  Don’t waste resources trying to promote or support a product that doesn’t resonate with your target consumer.  
• Alleviating the need to “start from scratch” with each campaign.  A defined brand and identity allows your marketing specialist/provider to get your message right the first time, and ensures that it’s consistent every time.
• Providing laser focus on how and where to reach your target market.  A fully-developed client profile tells you just where to spend your marketing dollars to reach your audience, and eliminate the costly mistake of “trying” the wrong media channel.

Imagine this.  You have a team of employees that love their jobs, and require less management from your because they are proactive, empowered, and confident in your expectations of them.  You, in turn, are certain that when a customer has a question or problem, that the message and service they receive will solve the problem and leave them satisfied, rather than creating more issues and potentially upsetting them further.  Your marketing efforts are bringing solid returns, because you’ve aligned your messages and promotions with channels that bring them right to your ideal customer.  And, your stress levels have lowered because all your services and product lines are performing well.  This, my friend, is what a business with a clearly defined brand can look like.  

Five Signs It’s Time to Update (or Redesign) Your Logo

Smart Fish Marketing's new logo.
We think it's quite snazzy.
Let us know what you think in
the comments section.

When a multi-national corporation makes even minor modifications to their logo, it’s big news in the business world.  Remember the hype around Uber’s new logo design?  Or the tweaks to Google’s logo type?  There’s a reason for that.  A logo is your business’ public face, and it creates the first impression people have of how reliable and professional you are. 

How do you know if your logo is creating the right impression?  Here are 5

reasons it’s time to give your logo a new look :

1. It doesn’t adapt to current uses.  If your logo was designed 15 years ago, it might not work well in today’s digital world.  How does your logo look on your website or on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter?  A good logo can be sized up or down, looks good in black and white, makes an appealing button for a mobile app, and can be translated into an icon design.    If your logo can’t handle these challenges, it might be time for an update.
2. It doesn’t represent your current business.  Businesses evolve and it’s not uncommon for small business owners and entrepreneurs to start out with one product or service, then grow and diversify into new and different areas. Or maybe you’ve undergone significant changes in your organization or an acquisition. If your logo doesn’t represent your current service offering, it’s time to rebrand.
3. It isn’t designed well.  If you’re like a lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs, maybe you thought you could design your own logo.  Or, maybe you didn’t have the financial ability to hire a professional designer.  Whatever the reason, you surely know by now that crafting a well-thought-out brand image is crucial to creating recognition in the marketplace.  If you’re not receiving compliments on your logo, it’s probably time to let a professional step in and design something new.
4. It doesn’t match up to your website and marketing materials. Now that you do have resources to invest in marketing, you’ve stepped up your game with a professional web design and marketing materials.  If your logo doesn’t look like it belongs on your promotional materials, or (worse) if it’s detracting from their design appeal, it’s definitely time for a logo refresh.
5. You just don’t like it.  Period.  If you don’t fancy your logo, it’s time to hire a professional designer to help craft one you will love.  This is a great time to put some real thought and planning into the development of a new look.  How do you want people to feel about your business when they see your logo?  What should the personality of your logo be?  What services and products should it reflect? What promise is it communicating to your audience? Be forward-thinking.  After all, logos are aspirational – capturing not only where your business is today, but where you want it to go in the future.

Since we always take our own advice, we recently introduced a new logo for Smart Fish Marketing.  Why did we decide it was time?  To be honest, we were somewhere between #2 and #5. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

How did your logo score?  If you’re not a 5 out of 5, give us a call to help craft a new look for your business.

5 Tips for Strengthening Your Brand Today

Every communication you send out either reinforces or diminishes your brand image. Inconsistent presentation of your message can erode your credibility in the market. Here are five things you can do today to protect your brand image.

1. Educate your employees on the importance of consistency and brand image - make sure they understand your message and expectations.
2. Develop an official version of your logo and tagline and don't deviate from its use.
3. Use templates to ensure consistency in your client communications - both print and electronic.
4. Review your social media channels to ensure that your posts and interactions are reinforcing your message and brand personality.
5. Monitor what's being said about your brand - set up a Google Alert for your company name to receive regular updates on who's talking about you online.

9 Steps to Defining Your Brand

In today’s market, there are hundreds of businesses competing for customers. In order to win them over, you have to show them that your service or product is better in some demonstrable way (price, quality, etc.). How do you achieve this? Through Branding.

Branding communicates the positive aspects of you and your service or product to your customer. It is the "face" that you show the world and sums up your personality, vision, mission and craft. Proper branding can help you build a strong relationship with your target market and help your business succeed.

Here are 9 questions to answer as you work towards defining your brand:

1. What are you selling? Describe the qualities of your service or product.
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2. What are your core values? How are they reflected in your service or product?
3. What is your mission? If you haven’t written a Business Plan – take time to define what you want to achieve.
4. What makes your service or product unique among all others?
5. Who is your Target Market?
6. What is your tagline? What message does your tagline send to your market?
7. Using steps 1-7, create a description that represents you and your business. Think of this description as your business “personality”. What characteristics stand out? What is your personality like?
8. How can you use the personality you just developed to create a relationship with your Target Market? What characteristics and qualities of your personality are going to draw the attention of your market? What are the “selling points” of your personality?
9. Now, create your brand profile. Write it as if you were writing a biography or personal ad. Use your creativity to describe your brand with words.

Congratulations! You’ve just “branded” yourself and taken a big step to increasing the success of your business. Your brand image is your company’s identity and it will be communicated in numerous ways with frequency and consistency throughout the life of your business. From here on out, every message you send out about your business or product should be targeted to your market and support your brand image through visual or verbal consistency.